Recently, during Prognosfruit in Alden Biesen, Belgium, the top fruit prognoses were presented. Fritz Prem of the Europäisches Bioobst Forum (EBF) talked about the European organic apple market.
Fritz Prem
“It’s unclear how many organic apples are expected for the coming season. Those figures are available for the fresh market and members of the EBF, but not for the industry. The prognoses of apples for the fresh market is 336,000 tonnes and EBF members expect 190,951 tonnes,” Fritz says.
“In coming two years 30% increase in organic area”
This year’s biggest variety is Gala, and 41,084 tonnes of this are expected, followed by Golden, Topaz, Braeburn, Elstar and Jonagold. “In the coming two years the organic fruit area will increase by 30%,” Fritz says. “Organic apples and pears will retain their spot in the premium segment as well, because the spirit of the times is focusing on organic production more and more.”
“A threat to the fresh fruit sector is how much money consumers spend on fresh fruit. Research of GFK Austria shows that an average household only spends 15 euros on fresh fruit per month, while they spend about 145 euros on fresh food and ready-meals per month,” Fritz concludes.